Cleaning & Building Maintenance
vital role in ensuring businesses avoid the implications of stocking too many cleaning products. At Office Depot, we are finding it increasingly commonplace for clients, particularly in FM, to expect us to actively approach them about the latest product innovations that could benefit, and most importantly, simplify their existing set of cleaning solutions. The best-informed businesses recognise the importance not only of striking a balance between stocking a comprehensive set of chemicals without overlapping the tasks they are capable of performing, but also of reviewing this balance on an ongoing and regular basis to leave the door open to the latest market innovations. To this end, suppliers are being viewed more and more as an essential information access point for businesses seeking to stay ahead in their cleaning processes.
The supplier’s role is not merely limited to monitoring product developments though. Furthering knowledge about relevant health and safety legislation is another prominent part of providing information to the end user so they can make an educated choice about their cleaning solutions. Offering clients a comprehensive overview of safe
practice can eliminate over-caution about the use of products that may in fact be best suited to a business. Regulations, such as the EU-wide Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), should not be viewed as barriers to selecting products. In fact, the REACH system places the main burden of responsibility on manufacturers of the chemicals themselves. In turn, suppliers that sell these chemicals to businesses need to ensure that the manufacturers they work with have properly registered the chemicals in question, according to EU regulations.
“Mixing the wrong combination of chemicals can create harmful toxic gases and the risk is multiplied when a business has cultivated a build-up of products.”
Conducting such discussions, alongside training key staff, consequently reduces the risks that may otherwise be associated with the use of chemicals and eliminates the chances of wrongly mixing certain products. Indeed, one of the main advantages of reducing
the volume of chemical use is that product use is vastly simplified in the first place. Fewer products means fewer risk assessments and reduces the chances of staff overlooking important safety recommendations that apply to chemicals. Training can then focus upon a genuine understanding of each product in place, rather than drawing up every possible combination and the associated risks between a larger set of products.
Fortunately, businesses are becoming more aware of the demands they can put upon their chemicals suppliers. By promoting deeper understanding of what options are available, businesses are ensuring that no matter what difficulties they may face elsewhere, the process they have in place for chemicals is simple, efficient and, above all, designed to work directly in line with their daily operations.
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